Rickie Fowler earns one of rare upsets at WGC match play

Sixteen matches will be played Thursday in this five-day event.

Rickie Fowler (right) with caddie Joe Skovron (left) plays to the green of the first hole during the first round of the World Golf Championships - Accenture Match Play Championship at The Golf Club at Dove Mountain on Wednesday.(Photo: Allan Henry, USA TODAY Sports)

Story Highlights

All but one of the four No. 1 seeds advanced at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championships.

No. 1 seed Zach Johnson lost 5 and 4 to Richard Sterne.

Fowler is featuring a new swing after working with swing coach Butch Harmon.

MARANA, Ariz. -- It didn't take long Wednesday for the first upset to be registered in the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship.

In the first match, Rickie Fowler, a No. 14 seed, toppled Ryder Cup warrior and No. 3 seed Ian Poulter 2 and 1 at The Golf Club at Dove Mountain. Fowler jumped out to a 3-up lead after seven holes and maintained at least a 2-hole edge the rest of the way.

"If I was picking a bracket and I was an outsider looking in, I probably would have picked Poulter," Fowler said. "I knew I was the underdog. I knew I had somewhat nothing to lose."

Fowler wasn't the only bracket buster in this lose-and-go-home competition.

Zach Johnson, one of four No. 1 seeds, lost 5 and 4 to Richard Sterne; Dustin Johnson, a No. 2 seed, lost 4 and 3 to Peter Hanson and Steve Stricker, a No. 3 seed playing for the first time this season lost 3 and 1 to George Coetzee.

But for the most part, the seeds played to form after four of the first six matches ended in upsets. In all, only nine lower seeds won in the 32 matches.

The other No. 1 seeds advanced. Henrik Stenson, the overall No. 1, won three of the match's last four holes and held off Kiradech Aphibarnrat 2 and 1; Justin Rose outlasted Scott Piercy 1 up and Rory McIlroy, who last year lost as the overall No. 1 seed in the first round, won five holes in a seven-hole stretch and defeated Boo Weekley 3 and 2. Defending champion Matt Kuchar, a No. 2 seed, advanced with a 3-and-2 win against Bernd Wiesberger.

Sixteen matches will be played Thursday.

"Just getting through to the next round is what this tournament is all about, and I've been able to do that," McIlroy said.

Fowler pulled off the upset with his new short 'do and new compact swing resulting from work with swing coach Butch Harmon. Fowler, who missed his last three cuts, hasn't wavered in his commitment to the swing.

"I've been swing well," he said. "The swing feels really comfortable. I know a lot of people question whether it's swing changes (causing poor play) or if I'm not comfortable with it. But really I just need to get the putter warmed back up. Once I start making putts it's going to be a little bit of a change."

Bubba Watson (left) with caddie J. Ted Scott (right) on the 11th tee during the first round of the World Golf Championships - Accenture Match Play Championship at The Golf Club at Dove Mountain on Wednesday.(Photo: Allan Henry, USA TODAY Sports)

Other upsets were avoided. Bubba Watson, a No. 3 seed who won last week's Northern Trust Open, was 2 down through 12 holes to No. 14 seed Mikko Ilonen but won three holes in a row starting at the 13th and won 2 and 1.

Somehow, Graeme McDowell, a No. 4 seedd, also came out a winner. After he said he was "beaten to a pulp" on the front nine by Gary Woodland, McDowell stormed back from a 4-hole deficit and won the final three holes to send the match to extra holes. McDowell ended the match when he made birdie from 5 feet on the first extra hole.

"After I missed the putt on 15, I thought I was going home," McDowell said. "But he gave me a sliver of hope on the 16th and I feel very lucky to have escaped with a win. A little Houdini act there."

"That's the great thing about this tournament – win, lose or draw, you are putting your game under Sunday pressure on every hole every day, and you learn from that. But this is a brutal, volatile tournament."